culture shock. team owners are jackasses as the culture of business management isn't used to treating employees like humans rather than pieces of meat.

otherwise, shopping food and nightlife are all great, although clubs can be sketchy and one-night stands aren't as common outside of big cities, either way people are more awkward and reserved and there's no real blowout parties, which as an nba player would certainly frustrate me

their agents are lining up these deals and not telling the players what they're getting them into or sending them into some shithole like taiyuan to play for some rich factory owner who wants you to practice eight hours a day while he and his friends watch. you shouldn't move to china if you've never been abroad before and/or are not mentally prepared for it. if you are, you can have a great time here

Well China really sucks. You have a ton of poor people, environment is shitty, and it must be strange to be coming from U.S or Europe and then living under a government like Chinas. I've also heard that there are a lot of racist in China also so that might be a factor to.

Yes but poor in the U.S is an entirely different thing than poor in China. In China there are people barely living by dollars in the U.S some homeless people make hundreds of dollars just begging for money on the streets. Not only that I've also listened to stories of people who gone there and they said that there have been a lot of times when they treat people from different countries as monkeys and will try to make them act stupid for their amusement. I remember listening to an interview on npr and guy went on one of their news channels to act like one of those experts in a debate about a serious topic and the entire time they tried to get him to sign a song.

On the other hand, my experience in China was rather pleasant. In the US there are people living dollar to dollar working minimum wage just like China. All countries in the world have a problem with poverty not just China. Furthermore, pan handlers in China make some coin as well.

I would like to hear some of those stories because I have heard nothing of the sort. I have heard about the Chinese being very xenophobic towards foreigners and refuse to even talk to them let alone make them act like monkeys.

I've been to China about 8 times in my life and never have I seen the locals attempting to make foreigners act like monkeys... whatever that may mean.

I dunno, asides from the environment, everything you described kind of sounds like America except the American government pretends that all their citizens are free whilst China seems to be very open about the way it controls it's people.

I've been to China and it's very different but hardly "better" or "worse" than the US. I think there is probably just a massive culture clash that the NBA players find difficult to manage.

Yes because in the U.S if you speak against the government you are sent to a re education camp for 3 years where you will be forced to make cheap ass products for rich people in other countries yes totally similiar. And this has been talked about how in China racism is starting to grow especially against westerners.

I said things were different over there, not exactly the same. I wouldn't want to live in either country, to be entirely honest. But if you look at somebody like the artist Ai Wei Wei and then people like Bradley Manning or Snowden, you start to see similarities between the way the two governments handle people who are willing to speak out against them.

I'd point to the insane incarceration rate and demonisation of the poor in the US as another reason that it isn't exactly head and shoulders above China when it comes to morality. The way I see it, they are both as bad as each other, just on different levels of manipulation.

not really, plenty of wage slaves but not endemic poverty like in India

environment is shitty

in the big cities yes, everywhere else no

living under a government like Chinas

lol, the government plays no role in daily life. besides needing a vpn to get onto facebook, it's just such a non-factor as a foreigner in china

I've also heard that there are a lot of racist in China also

oh, have you? many people don't know anything about black people besides their negative portrayal in western media, and while they don't hate black people, they're much more blunt in addressing what they perceive as racial differences than we're comfortable with in the west.

Why not? He is still playing at a level of one of the greatest ever. I love watching the man play. I hope he stays longer. I think he should keep playing for as long as his body allows him to keep up with the young guys.

I wonder if Kobe would actually take a paycut like Duncan, who I believe is only getting 9 million or so. If Kobe takes that, then yes definitely resign for 2-3 years. But for more than that? I'd be wary.

That's a strong statement. He was very effective this year, and with a fully healthy roster around him he wouldn't have to shoulder as much of a burden. If Dwight can play all year like he did at the end of the regular season and Nash is some semblance of his former self, Kobe could be very efficient for a good long while.